The Christmas Truce of 1914

THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914


In this week in military history, we explore the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 when the sounds of war faded across the Western Front, albeit briefly, and a moment of goodwill was shared during World War I.

In 1914, with the first World War already five months old, Pope Benedict XV made an appeal for a ceasefire at Christmas, an appeal that was rejected by military and political leaders on both sides .

On the ground, however, things were rather different. On Christmas morning, 1914, widespread reports of fraternization were recorded between British and German units often heralded by cries of ‘merry Christmas’ in broken English, from the Germans. Incidents of troops meeting in no-man’s land and exchanging gifts were common with even a reported football or soccer match being played between the foes , temporarily at least, friends for now.

This temporary ceasefire also offered a more somber and sober opportunity. The unofficial cease-fire gave the opposing sides a moment to collect and bury their dead, recover their wounded, and complete prisoner swaps.

The 1914 Christmas Truce is memorable for the number of soldiers involved in a moment of peace and goodwill in a time of utter violence.

The following year, a few units arranged ceasefires, but the Christmas Truce was not seen again on the scale of 1914 and in fact firm orders against any form of fraternization ensure that even such incidents that did occur were hastily dealt with.

The memory of the Christmas Truce, however, lives on, and today a memorial to the Christmas Truce stands near Ploegsteert Wood in Belgium.

Join us next time for another segment of This Week in Military History with the Pritzker Military Museum & Library!

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The Times History of war
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